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Published on: June 21, 2010
Time Allotted for Examination Item Types in Nursing Education
Vicki Moran1, Sheila Chery1, Heidi Israel2
1Wolters Kluwer Health, New York, New York; and.
The Journal of Nursing Education
|September 9, 2025
Summary
New nursing exam item types require careful time allotment. Educators should adjust timing based on question difficulty and type, especially for early curriculum exams, to accurately assess knowledge.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Assessment and Evaluation
Background:
- Examinations are crucial for evaluating nursing student knowledge.
- The Next Generation National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NGN NCLEX-RN) introduced new item types in April 2023.
- Limited data exists on the time required for these novel item types.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the time demands of various question types on the NGN NCLEX-RN.
- To provide evidence-based recommendations for exam time allocation in nursing education.
Main Methods:
- Item analysis performed on 772 questions answered by 14,728 nursing students.
- Evaluation of seven distinct item types: calculation, cloze, matrix, ordered response, hot spot, multiple choice, and multiple response.
Main Results:
- Calculation questions necessitate more time.
- Multiple choice questions averaged 1 minute each.
- Increased question difficulty correlated with longer completion times.
- Exams early in nursing programs require greater time allocation.
Conclusions:
- Nursing educators must consider item type and difficulty when determining exam time.
- Strategic time allotment is essential for accurate knowledge assessment using new NGN NCLEX-RN item types.
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